Pinnacol Offers Risk Management Aid as OSHA Fines Increase

DENVER, May 26, 2011 – As a result of a new workplace safety enforcement offensive across Colorado by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Pinnacol Assurance is placing a focus on risk management by hosting Risk Management Symposiums in Denver and Grand Junction during the month of June, which is National Safety Month. The symposiums, which take place in Denver June 8-9 and in Grand Junction June 29, are designed to help businesses keep their employees safe and avoid OSHA fines.

Courses offered during the symposiums will take a complete look at managing risks by focusing on topics such as basic safety management, fall protection, fraud, worksite wellness programs and claims management. Participants will have the opportunity to learn how to prevent workplace injuries, including slips, trips, and falls, which disable approximately 300,000 U.S. employees each year.

One of our goals at Pinnacol is to help Colorado businesses be ready to ensure workplace safety compliance with agencies like OSHA," commented Jim McMillen, Pinnacol's director of safety services. "We anticipate businesses will come to our symposiums with safety issues, and we'll be there to provide knowledge and tools to help solve them."

Serious penalties for violations across the nation are on the rise, increasing from an average of $1,053 in 2009 to $2,005 in 2010. Cases resulting in fines over $100,000 have risen 27 percent over the last year. The rise in penalties is due to new OSHA Administrative Penalty Increases that went into effect on October 1, 2010.

The latest OSHA workplace fatality statistics show 83 individuals in Colorado died in 2009 and 4,551 for the country as a whole. The construction, natural resources and mining, and trade, transportation and utilities industries incurred the most fatalities in Colorado.

Soon after her confirmation, U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis noted that under her watch, enforcement of U.S. labor laws would be intensified to provide an effective deterrent to employers who put their workers' lives at risk. Participants who attend Pinnacol’s risk management symposiums will learn how to develop a formal safety program to help businesses anticipate and correct OSHA workplace violations.

In addition to the risk management symposiums, Pinnacol policyholders have access to a team of 27 loss prevention experts to help with workplace safety issues. And, they have access to nurse case managers, a fraud investigation unit and a wide range of downloadable workplace safety tools on the Pinnacol website www.pinnacol.com

About Pinnacol
Pinnacol Assurance is Colorado’s leading provider of workers’ compensation insurance. Pinnacol provides comprehensive, competitively priced coverage; immediate attention to claims; a highly qualified network of medical providers; and proactive safety programs to approximately 55,000 Colorado businesses. Since 2005, Pinnacol has returned more than $435 million in general dividends to its policyholders statewide ― a mark of the company’s stable and strong financial health.

Contact:
Suzi Stolte
Associate Vice President of Communications and Public Relations
303.361.4777
suzi.stolte@pinnacol.com